Ever since the rollout of the Covid vaccine, several publications have argued that the injections used in Europe could “cause HIV infection,” based on a letter published in October 2020 in the scientific journal The Lancet. However, the researchers behind this letter warned against the use of a specific type of adenovirus vaccine, quoting work they had conducted showing that these vaccines could theoretically increase the risk of infection for people exposed to HIV. According to an article published by AFP Factuel.
One year later, the claim that the anti-Covid vaccines could cause the development of an “acquired immunodeficiency syndrome” continues to circulate in viral publications, which claim that data published by the English health authorities would have provided proof. This allegation, notably taken up by the Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, is however false, as verified also by AFP Factuel in this article.
“You can only contract HIV if you are exposed to the virus”
WHERE DID THIS RUMOR COME FROM?
Concerns about Covid and AIDS vaccination that began circulating in October 2020 spread after the publication of a letter in the scientific journal The Lancet. In this letter, four scientists expressed concern that some Covid-19 vaccines use a method to induce an immune response against Sars-CoV-2 that may increase the risk of infection with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), a retrovirus that infects humans and causes Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). In the letter sent to the Lancet, the researchers express concern that a certain type of adenovirus, known as “type 5,” is being used for HIV vaccination, based on work they did in 2007 when pharmaceutical giant Merck was seeking to develop an HIV vaccine using a type 5 adenovirus, which at the time appeared to increase the risk of infection.
In Switzerland and in France, the Russian Sputnik V and Chinese CanSino vaccines using these type 5 adenoviruses are not used because they have not been authorized by the French National Agency for the Safety of Medicines (ANSM) or by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
In the case of Ad5 vaccines such as Sputnik V and CanSinoBio, and this is only a theoretical risk, if a person received this vaccine and was then exposed to HIV, he or she could have an increased risk of HIV infection. This does not apply to the vast majority of vaccines used internationally.”
This is also a hypothesis put forward on the WHO website, which notes that, while “the reason for this observed risk for HIV remains unclear,” “several follow-up studies suggest possible interference in the HIV-specific vaccine response or in the susceptibility of CD4 T cells to HIV infection induced by this type of vaccine. “However, this finding was not apparent in a third, more recent study with another adenoviral vector vaccine,” the organization noted, concluding in July that “studies of Covid-19 vaccines specifically addressing this issue are needed.”
Find AFP Factuel full article here
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Emma Suleiman
